WHO in flu pandemic alert

THE threat of pandemic influenza is ever-present, and the threat of a global pandemic is imminent, according to the World Health Organisation.

WHO released a Global Influenza Strategy for 2019-2030 aimed at protecting people in all countries from the threat of influenza.

The goal of the strategy is to prevent seasonal influenza, control the spread of influenza from animals to humans, and prepare for the next influenza pandemic.

WHO director-general Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the question was not about whether there will be another pandemic, but when.

“The ongoing risk of a new influenza virus transmitting from animals to humans and potentially causing a pandemic is real. We must be vigilant and prepared.”

He said Influenza remained one of the world’s greatest public health challenges, with around a billion cases each year.

Of those cases, 3 to 5 million were severe and between 290 000 and 650 000 led to deaths.

Tedros said the organisation recommended annual flu shots.

“The new strategy is the most comprehensive and far-reaching that WHO has ever developed for influenza.”

The strategy has two overarching goals, which include building stronger capacities for disease prevention and developing better tools to prevent, treat and control flu.

“With the partnerships and country-specific work we have been doing over the years, the world is better prepared than ever before for the next big outbreak, but we are still not prepared enough.”

He said that to successfully implement this strategy, effective partnerships were essential.

“This strategy aims to get us to that point. Fundamentally, it is about preparing health systems to manage shocks, and this only happens when health systems are strong and healthy themselves.”

WHO would expand partnerships to increase availability of new and improved global influenza tools to benefit all countries, he said.